LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER Set for South Orange Performing Arts Center, 5/9

Co-directors/producers Deborah Goldstein (Publisher, Village Q), Brooke Lefferts (Writer, Associated Press, NBC Today), Sandy Rustin (Playwright, Rated P ... for Parenthood, The Cottage, Struck) are pleased to announce the incredible local cast of the 2015 North Jersey show of Listen to Your Mother, a national series of original live readings about motherhood (www.listentoyourmothershow.com). The production will be May 9th at 2:00 and 5:00 PM at The South Orange Performing Arts Center (One SOPAC Way, South Orange, NJ, 07079). Statewide open auditions were held in early March and 13 writers have been selected to join the movement of "giving motherhood a microphone." Tickets are $30-$35 and are available at www.sopacnow.org.

The performance at SOPAC on May 9th will feature live readings by some of North Jersey's most talented writers and bloggers: Kimberlee Auerbach Berlin, Amy Byrnes, Beatriz Leon Campbell, V.C. Chickering, Rachael Quinn Egan, Danielle Ferland, Lisa Goldstein, Jan Kaminsky, Marian Opoku-Dakwa, Tami Steckler, Michele Stein, Jesse Torrey, and Judith Wolochow.

The mission of each Listen to Your Mother production is to take the audience on a well-crafted journey that celebrates and validates motherhood (in all of its complexity, diversity, and humor) in the form of original readings performed live on-stage by their authors.

Listen to Your Mother is sponsored nationally by BlogHer. Listen To Your Mother: North Jersey welcomes SOPAC and Midtown Direct Rep as local Megaphone sponsors. Proud Microphone sponsors include: American Jiu Jitsu of Maplewood, Bitofbutter.org, CKO Kickboxing Maplewood, Joy Yagid Photography, Macaroni Kid Summit Short Hills SOMA, Meatball Obsession, Paul Madsen Videography,Tracey Diamond Designs, and The Vanessa Pollock Realty Team at Keller Williams Midtown Direct. Podium sponsors are Align Wellness Studio, Ashley Marketplace & Cafe, Baker Street Yoga, Cedar Ridge Cafe, New Horizons Day Camp, Peachcraft Academy of Dramatic Arts, Sparkhouse Toys, Sweet Life by Design and [words] Bookstore.

Listen to Your Mother aims to support motherhood creatively through artistic expression, and also financially, through contributions to non-profit organizations supporting families in need. The North Jersey show will be donating 10 % of ticket proceeds to Eva's Village Hope Residence for Homeless Mothers and Children, a Paterson, NJ Non-Profit organization that has reinvented the concept of the homeless shelter for mothers and children in New Jersey. In addition to providing stable & safe shelter, Eva's Village offers a wide range of support services to address the mental and physical health required to transition successfully out of homelessness and poverty.